Oral and extraoral bitter taste receptors

The role of bitter taste receptors has changed considerably over the past years. While initially considered to have predominantly, or even exclusively, gustatory functions, numerous recent reports addressed nongustatory actions of TAS2R s. One site of extraoral bitter taste receptor expression is the respiratory system. It was demonstrated that bitter taste receptors are located in the nasal respiratory epithelium, as well as in ciliated cells of lung epithelium, where they affect respiratory functions in response to noxious stimuli. Another site of TAS2R gene expression is the gastrointestinal tract. Here, bitter compounds are suspected to regulate via activation of TAS2Rs metabolic and digestive functions. The present article focuses on general pharmacological features and signal transduction components of mammalian TAS2Rs and summarizes current knowledge on Tas2r gene function in respiratory and gastrointestinal systems on the expense of a detailed description of gustatory bitter taste perception, which has been the subject of recent reviews.